With Pant, Rahul and Iyer back in the auction pool, IPL 2025 will witness a leadership shake-up

Dustin Silgardo31-Oct-20241:19

Moody: Pant will break the IPL auction record

Teams focus on Indian playersRetention split: Indians: 36, Overseas: 10As might have been expected, the majority of players retained (78.26%) are Indians. Just two teams have retained more than one overseas player: Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have retained three, and Kolkata Knight Riders, who have retained two. Several teams have retained just one overseas player, while Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings have retained only Indian players.ESPNcricinfo LtdBatters still dominate retentionsRetention split: Batters: 28, Allrounders: 7, Bowlers: 11
As has historically been the case, teams have focused on retaining batters over bowlers. Notably, Rajasthan Royals have just one bowler, Sandeep Sharma, among their six retentions. Similarly, SRH have just Pat Cummins as a frontline bowler. MI and Chennai Super Kings have slightly better balance since they each have a death bowler (Jasprit Bumrah and Matheesha Pathirana) and an allrounder (Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja). The two teams that have invested heavily in bowlers are Lucknow Super Giants, who have retained Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Mohsin Khan, and KKR, who have kept Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy in addition to allrounders Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.ESPNcricinfo LtdEight teams go for uncapped playersIn 2022, just four teams had used the option of retaining an uncapped Indian player for INR 4 crore. This time around, eight of the ten teams have done so. Only MI and SRH have not retained an uncapped player. KKR, PBKS, GT and LSG have each retained two uncapped players, the maximum allowed. DC and RCB have retained one each, while CSK and RR have made use of the new rule of players who have not played international cricket for five years being classified as uncapped. CSK have retained MS Dhoni for INR 4 crore while RR have retained Sandeep Sharma for the same amount. A total of 12 uncapped Indian players have been retained.Just three specialist spinners retainedIn recent years, teams have been reluctant to spend big on spinners who don’t also add value with the bat, and that trend continues. Among the 46 retentions, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy are the only three retained purely for their spin bowling. Ravindra Jadeja, Rashid Khan, Axar Patel and Sunil Narine are four spin-bowling allrounders among the retentions. Among the experienced spinners going into the auction are Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Maheesh Theekshana and Rahul Chahar.ESPNcricinfo LtdFive teams release their captainsLSG, DC, RCB, PBKS and defending champions KKR have all released their captains. While LSG might look at Nicholas Pooran as a leadership option and RCB may go back to Virat Kohli as captain, it is likely KKR, DC and PBKS will be looking for captains during the auction. This could increase the value of players with captaincy experience. Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis, Aiden Markram, Steven Smith and Nitish Rana are among the auction-bound players with prior captaincy experience. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who have captained England, may also be in demand.ESPNcricinfo LtdCaptains sacrifice payIn addition to the five captains released, three others have agreed to stay at their franchise as second retentions. Hardik Pandya will be paid INR 16.35 crore (less than Jasprit Bumrah), Shubman Gill INR 16.50 crore (less than Rashid Khan), and Pat Cummins INR 18 crore (less than Heinrich Klaasen). The only two captains who are their team’s joint-top retentions are Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore) and Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore).Other marquee players have also agreed to lower price slabs to help their teams balance their purses. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are notable among them, but Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav have also agreed to amounts less than what they might have earned in the auction.ESPNcricinfo LtdKKR and DC spend less than deductionsKKR and DC are the only teams who have chosen to pay their players less than the total amount they will have deducted from their purse. KKR have spent just INR 57 crore on their six retentions but will have INR 69 crore deducted from their purse since they have retained four capped players, which means a deduction of INR 61 crore, and two uncapped players, which means a deduction of INR 8 crore. Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have all agreed to amounts less than the retention slabs set by the IPL. Delhi Capitals are also paying their capped players less than what they will be deducted for them. Axar Patel will be paid INR 16.50 crore instead of INR 18 crore, Kuldeep Yadav INR 13.25 crore instead of INR 14 crore, and Tristan Stubbs INR 10 crore instead of INR 11 crore.All the other teams have balanced the amounts paid to their retained players so that none, except Punjab Kings, have gone over the minimum deduction. While SRH have paid Heinrich Klaasen INR 5 crore more than the maximum slab, they have saved that amount by paying Nitish Kumar Reddy INR 6 crore instead of INR 11 crore. Similarly, RCB and LSG have saved the extra INR 3 crores they are paying Nicholas Pooran and Virat Kohli by paying their other capped retentions less. Shubman Gill has agreed to be Gujarat Titans’ second retention, at INR 16.50 crore, and the extra INR 2.50 crore spent there has been balanced by paying Sai Sudharsan INR 8.50 crore instead of INR 11 crore. CSK and MI have split their purse too, with Rohit Sharma being paid less than Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.

The new head coach talks about why “Project Punjab” attracted him

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi20-Sep-20246:27

What is Ponting’s biggest challenge at Punjab Kings?

About two months after he parted ways with Delhi Capitals as head coach, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has signed a four-year contract to be the head coach at Punjab Kings. In this interview, in Nottingham, Ponting tells us why he decided to accept the new job, what he hopes for in the mega-auction, and why he was disappointed with the way his Capitals tenure ended. Punjab are the third franchise where you will be head coach. Happy to back in the IPL?
Yeah, I’m very happy to be back in the IPL. It’s been such a big part of my life, it’s been ten or 11 years now that I have been going to the IPL. The thing that keeps drawing me back is the level of cricket and the quality of players you get to work with. Obviously, I was disappointed to finish with DC after the seven years there, but I understand all the reasonings behind that.But now this opportunity’s come up with Kings. I see this as a real coaching challenge. It’s almost like a coaching project for me, and having spoken to the management and the owners, they understand the path I want to head on. And we are aligned really well so far.You were in talks with at least two other franchises. What made you eventually decide on Punjab?
Yes, I was talking to a few teams, but it was “Project Punjab” which attracted me. It is a team that hasn’t had a lot of success over a long period of time, a team that’s changed coaches a lot, so I saw it as a challenge. The other exciting part is that I saw some really exciting youngsters last year at Kings that hopefully we can attract back to the team for this season and put together a team that is going to be good enough to win the IPL. I mean, there’s no doubting over the years that the Kings have had good players, have had good teams. They just haven’t been able to win it yet. I have a longish-term deal there, and hopefully during that period of time we can win the IPL.Related

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Ricky Ponting and Delhi Capitals part ways

Your deal is for four years, which is interesting considering Punjab have had multiple coaches in the past several years. Was there any particular reason you wanted to sign a long-term contract?
What I have found with the IPL is, it’s quite rare that you actually put your perfect team together during a mega auction, which is the first year. You think you are going to, because you have all this money to spend and all these players to buy, but it rarely works out that way. If you look at the better teams and the most successful teams, it’s normally been at the end of that cycle where they have actually been able to put their best team together. You start off with one team after the mega auction, and then you are able to do some trades and bring some other players in at mini-auctions.By the end of three years is when you have probably got your best team. So my theory and philosophy to Punjab Kings was to let me have the three years – by the end of the three years, I think we are going to be able to put a really good squad together, and then one more year after that to have a real crack again if we need to go into another auction.They were really keen on making it a long-term deal as well. Through that hopefully we can have some sustained success.How has the IPL evolved as far as coaching goes?
Coaching’s a lot more specific in the IPL now. Every team has pretty much got every base covered: you have the fast-bowling coaches, spin-bowling coaches, high-quality fielding coaches, the best analysts going around, who I count as being part of your coaching staff because they play such an important role. So you have a lot of the best coaches in the world there at once. And when you have the best coaches, the best players, you are guaranteed to have high quality of cricket. What the IPL has done by having all of these coaches is, I think, the reason that India are actually as good as they are. There’s always been that talent in India, but to have that talent around the best coaches for two or three months every year has helped them become better players.Ricky Ponting’s results as IPL head coach

2015: Mumbai Indians – winners

2016: Mumbai Indians – fifth

2018: Delhi Capitals – eighth

2019: Delhi Capitals – third

2020: Delhi Capitals – second

2021: Delhi Capitals – third

2022: Delhi Capitals – fifth

2023: Delhi Capitals – ninth

2024: Delhi Capitals – sixth

One thing I have noticed a bit this year is, a lot of the IPL franchises, because they have so many teams now across most T20 leagues, they are looking to have almost full-time coaching staff, which was one of the things that was the undoing with me with DC. They wanted more time and to have an India-based coach on the ground there for most of the year. I couldn’t commit to that. That’s the way it seems that a lot of the teams are going and it makes perfect sense.Having said that, it’s one thing having full-time coaches, but if you can’t get to the players, then you are wasting your time with it anyway, because the players are usually playing Ranji Trophy or some domestic cricket along with international cricket. So it’s very rare that the coaches are going to spend quality time with those players during the off-season.Why did you say you were disappointed with the way your Delhi Capitals tenure ended?
I felt like we created a really good family environment there. As I said, I understand what they want: they said to me that my availability was becoming an issue. And they wanted to pretty much have a full-time head coach. I couldn’t commit to that, so I was disappointed that it ended, but I understand the direction they wanted to head going forward.Everyone that I have been there with, everyone’s had a great time. You have only to look at some of the social media posts that Delhi put out straightaway to understand that a lot of the people involved in the franchise were disappointed that I wasn’t continuing as well. But the decisions were made.Ponting with Punjab’s Jitesh Sharma during the 2022 IPL: “I saw some really exciting youngsters last year at Kings that hopefully we can attract back to the team for this season”•Rahul Goyal/BCCIOne other reason why Capitals parted ways with you, we understand, was the absence of an IPL title during your tenure, where they made the playoffs for three consecutive years (2019-21), including the final in 2020, though they then failed to make the knockouts in the last three seasons. Even at Mumbai Indians, where despite helping them win the IPL in 2015 as head coach, your contract was not renewed after it ended in 2016. Does the pressure to win the title weigh heavily on the head coach?
Of course, it’s always there. But you actually want that. That’s the thing that makes coaching inviting to me. I like having that pressure. It’s as close to getting back to playing as you can possibly get. From the moment I finished playing, when that competition stops in your life, it’s really hard to replace that again. The closest thing I could find to playing was getting back in the cricket team’s change room being a coach and feeling like you are actually playing again. And coaching against guys that I might have played against and guys that are coaching that I played against – I want to beat them. Simple. A cricket change room is where I’m supposed to be.You feel at home in the change room?
That’s my happy place. I have obviously got some great memories through my time in IPL. Mumbai was awesome the first couple of years there [as head coach]. With Delhi, we created a pretty special place even without winning a title. But we made couple of big slip-ups in our mega-auction a couple of years ago [2022] and even probably our player retentions, and that set us back quite a way. And even this year [2024], little things went against us again, with Rishabh [Pant, DC captain] being suspended for a game that we had to win. We missed the playoffs on run rate. Little things like that add up. The results in T20 games are decided by really small margins. And then our season can be defined by really small margins as well. And we have been on the wrong end of those for a couple of years at DC.Do you think coaches need more empowerment – a free hand and less interference from owners and management?
Yeah, I want the accountability and autonomy. That’s one thing I made really clear to the management and owners at Kings straightaway: if you are going to trust me, [then] trust me to put the best team on the park and get the results for you. You hear all these stories and rumours about different teams and interference and all that. Having spoken to the owners and management at Kings, it sounds like that’s a fair way from being the way it actually is. But other teams I have been involved in, when owners do get involved, it’s just because they are passionate about their team. This is only because they want the best for their team.

” What the IPL has done by having all of these coaches is, I think, the reason that India are actually as good as they are”

It happens at some of the most successful franchises in the IPL as well. There can be a lot made of something that might be a minor issue. Going back to the accountability point, they [Kings] have given me the opportunity to put a coaching group together for the next couple of years. We are a long way down the track to starting to make a few of those pieces of the puzzle fall into place. And they understand the direction that I want to head. That’s the most important thing. The fact that they have given me a long-term deal, they have shown great faith and trust in me, and now it’s over to me and the player group to make sure we get the results.In April you told me the captain runs the team and a head coach can only be there to keep the dressing room ready, keep the players motivated and proactive. Will picking the captain at Punjab be the biggest challenge, and a priority for you?
Absolutely, no doubt. That is the first thing I said to the Kings’ owners and the management. With this mega auction coming up, either we have to decide to retain someone in our current group that we think is the best person for the job, or we have to go into the auction looking for the best possible candidate, whether that’s an Indian or overseas player. And make sure that him and I work together. If the captain and coach are on the same page and work together, that’s when the magic happens. That has happened at Chennai [Super Kings] over the years with [MS] Dhoni and [Stephen] Fleming. That’s happened with Rohit [Sharma] at Mumbai. You don’t get those results without that partnership working well.And it doesn’t matter really whether it is an Indian or overseas captain?
No, it doesn’t matter. You just have to get the right person.Do you reckon taking over just before the mega auction gives you the advantage to exactly pick the players you want for the roles you have in mind?
Yes and no. It is going to depend on the retention numbers. Say, if it’s eight players, then all of a sudden that’s 80 players [retained, if all ten teams retain that many]. There’s not going to be a lot of quality players left in the auction, so putting together a squad then would be more difficult. The more the numbers come down on retention, the easier it’s going be to put a squad of players together. In this current Kings group, you think of some of the young Indian players they have: Prabhsimran [Singh], Ashutosh [Sharma], Shashank [Singh], Jitesh [Sharma], Arshdeep [Singh], Harpreet Brar, Harshal [Patel]. Then among overseas lot we have [Liam] Livingstone, [Sam] Curran, [Kagiso] Rabada, [Jonny] Bairstow – there’s enough quality.”You start off with one team after the mega auction, and then you are able to do some trades at mini-auctions. By the end of three years is when you have probably got your best team”•Ron Gaunt/BCCIYou have a decade’s worth of coaching experience in the IPL already. On the personal front, are there any areas you want to get better at in the coming years?
For me to go to a new team, I’m basically setting up everything that I set up at the start [of my stint] at DC. At DC over the last few years we had a base, we knew what we wanted to do, things sort of looked after themselves, the family environment was created, people turned up… working hard, having fun, enjoying themselves, winning games is what it’s all about. But for me now, this [Kings] is a fresh start.Everything for me has to be perfect. Everything’s got to fall in place as far as appointments, coaches, support staff around the group. We have already started talking about retentions, but when the numbers come out, we’ll have a clear vision of what we want to do there and then we start planning for the auction.The biggest thing that I want to do at Punjab Kings is make everyone aware that it’s going to be a different place. We are not going to sit back and just accept mediocrity and finishing down the bottom and have other people sit back and talk about the way the franchise is going. It is going to be more dynamic. And people are going to be talking about this team and this franchise in a different way than ever before.Finally: how’s your Punjabi?
(Bursts out laughing) Not good yet! I noticed on social media, fans putting up pictures of me wearing the turban.I’m really excited. There’s already a core of players there that can turn things around quickly. I’m excited by what the management and the owners are talking about, and to have that accountability and a bit of autonomy on what I can do to build a group is the most exciting thing. The reason that I chose this franchise over the others – there are other jobs there that were probably a little bit easier, if you like – but this is the best challenge for me. And the end result could be the most satisfying as well.

It’s been a week or so of amazing sporting success for the country, but what the Black Caps did in Bengaluru and then Pune might have no equal

Alagappan Muthu27-Oct-20241:52

Manjrekar: Beating India in two different conditions is a remarkable feat

Tom Latham, this is your fault.In polite society, which this somehow still is (so long as you don’t turn on the news), we have the good sense not to talk about feet. That’s what the internet and a locked door is for. Not live TV. But no. You had to go and say – actually wait, first you had to go and do what you did in Bengaluru, then you topped it by going and doing what you did in Pune, and then you say stuff like wanting to “stay where our feet are” as if that’s meant to convey modesty and level-headedness? Do you know where New Zealand feet have been over the past week or so?Suzie Bates’ were supposed to be taking her into the team bus in Dubai but they just wouldn’t stop dancing the monkey. Back and forth and back and forth she went, over a red carpet, with a T20 World Cup winner’s medal around her neck and a lifetime’s supply of joy on her face.Related

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Peter Burling and Greg Dalton’s were up on a podium in Barcelona lifting the America’s Cup, a high-speed yachting competition that is 173 years old and has been dominated by New Zealand. They completed a three-peat, the 2024 win backing up those from 2017 and 2021, on a boat named and blessed by the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei tribe.Hayden Wilde’s were pounding the gravel in Torremolinos, Spain, where he finished the World Triathlon Championship Series finale a minute ahead of his nearest rival. (Great Britain’s Alex Yee won the title though, across the three legs.)New Zealand feet were doing amazing things all over the world. But in India, they were breaking brand-new ground. It has been 4331 days since a visiting side has been able to come here and win a Test series. Steven Smith has tried. Ben Stokes has tried. AB de Villiers has tried. Kane Williamson has tried. And though some of them have had sporadic success, sustaining it proved to be too difficult.The New Zealand players rejoice after their first Test series win in India•BCCIPune 2017, Hyderabad 2024, Delhi 2015 – all of these matches witnessed an extraordinary level of planning, effort, execution and a necessary amount of luck. Australia plucked a spinner from out of nowhere and were pleasantly surprised when he took as many wickets as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined. England brought in two novices on a hunch that their high release points could cause problems. South Africa batted with otherworldly determination and even then the best they could ever hope for was a draw. This is the extent to which India – both its conditions and its team – push their oppositions.In Bengaluru, they threatened to overturn 46 all out. In Pune, they polished off almost a third of their target at better than a run a ball. “We knew they’d come out hot, didn’t realise they were going to come that hot,” Latham said.Coping with a game slipping through the fingers is hard, but if it happens at home, you just might have a chance. At least there aren’t quite as many unknowns to deal with and there are potentially previous instances to draw from, going right back down to domestic and age-group cricket. Mitchell Santner couldn’t have had too many reference points for what he had to do over these past few days because he’s rarely had occasion to be a lead bowler at first-class level. His other teams have needed him so scarcely that he’s bowled 30 overs or less in 23 of 34 matches – 12 of those 23 were stints of 15 overs or less – and he’s actually gone three games without bowling at all.And yet, there he somehow was, responsible for 13 of the 20 Indian wickets that fell. At one point on Saturday he had his name on every dismissal, doing a more than passable impression of Richard Hadlee in Brisbane 1985-86, when he picked up 15 for 123 and scarred Australia so deeply that the next time New Zealand travelled to the Gabba they were allotted the home dressing room. Danny Morrison even remembers John Bracewell having a laugh about it. “Oh, look at that. Superstition.”In 66 years of trying, New Zealand had won only two Tests in India. Now they have two in less than two weeks. There is almost nothing the equal of this achievement in their history. Even that win (2-1) over big brother, which they prize above all else, came against an Australian line-up that was rebuilding after the retirements of Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh. This feels bigger. The only one of Hadlee’s stature in this team was out injured and they beat a full-strength India.1:51

How did Santner succeed when Jadeja struggled?

The first ever triple-century by a New Zealander brought the entire country together. Brendon McCullum had been batting for two days when the toll of going against his nature started to weigh him down. He began to play and miss against the third new ball. Then he left one. And a packed-to-the-rafters Basin Reserve roared with all its might. McCullum felt them. He was grateful for them. This feels bigger because they weren’t here.There is similar emotion attached to the Test Championship in 2021 – the Black Caps’ first world title (unless you count the Champions Trophy in its ICC KnockOut avatar back in 2000). They got there after losing four of their first five matches but winning the next six back-to-back – one of them a cult classic, where again Santner, the fourth bowler that they turned to, picked up the final Pakistan wicket with less than five overs to stumps. From there, they went to the final and Southampton was no different to Wellington. Their key players – Williamson, Latham, Devon Conway, Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner – knew what to do and when they returned home they were whisked away on a week-long, nation-wide celebration. This feels bigger because the conditions were so different to what they’re used to.Plus, they had an iffy build-up, a captain having to accept that maybe he wasn’t helping the team and their best source of runs stuck thousands of miles away from where he could be useful. Even just one of those hurdles tends to be too much when on tour. But perhaps that’s where Latham and his foot stuff came in handy.The New Zealand players have every reason to be pleased•AFP/Getty ImagesNew Zealand stayed level, looked inward and they found a prodigy who hasn’t got nearly as many chances as he could have because he’s been in the shadow of greats. Will Young was outstanding in the second innings of the first Test when he stood up to Jasprit Bumrah. They were grateful to a wicketkeeper batter who made a call and a commitment to turn himself into an offspinner. Glenn Phillips bowled 68 overs in Sri Lanka and 37 overs in India. They have a contender for the next Fab Four. Rachin Ravindra could not have looked more at home despite playing against the best in the world. Their most famous benchwarmer has become a hard-hitting frontliner. Matt Henry is the one that needs to get injured now for someone else to get in the XI. And they’re all led by a man who makes a fabulous flat white but he also does this one other thing.”Tom Latham showed a lot of batters who don’t trust their defence as much and are looking to play unorthodox shots, something to surprise the bowler and thereby try and survive,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day after he made the seventh-highest score (86) by a visiting batter in the second innings in India over the last 12 years.”He showed subtle skills. A couple of times, when he misread the length, he was still down the pitch, but didn’t commit himself too much and waited and then with the turn played the ball on the off side. Now those are the subtle skills that were a given in the olden days. Now its hard hands and committing to a shot very early. Tom Latham showed that game along with how he went after Ashwin very early, lofted him down the pitch, played the sweep shot, excellent sort of calculated risk, but most importantly it was amazing that a Kiwi batter showed a lot of Indian batters the subtle skills [needed] to survive and get runs.”New Zealand benefited from the toss both times – when it did fall in their favour and when it didn’t. That’s luck bordering on destiny. Forty-six all out played a big part in India feeling like they had no choice but to take extreme measures, especially with WTC points at stake. The pitch in Pune was meant to play to their strength but what it did was reduce the gap between the two teams. And this week that was just tempting fate.

A decorated practitioner yet part of the furniture, Southee could shine solo and also be the glue in the bowling attack

Andrew Miller13-Dec-2024Last week, the world of heavy metal was rocked by the retirement of Iron Maiden’s legendary drummer, Nicko McBrain, whose borderline-deranged repertoire of rolls, fills and syncopations earned him the occasional nickname of “The Octopus”, as he left barely a beat unstressed in 42 years of timekeeping for his behemoth of a band.This week, another titan of the global touring lifestyle will say his own farewell to the big stage -though it’s hard to imagine the grass banks at Hamilton’s bucolic Seddon Park will throb with quite the same acclaim as a Sao Paulo stadium packed with 50,000 metalheads. There will at least be a life-size “Sexy Camel” in attendance, for Tim Southee – much to his own bemusement – was also known to answer to an unlikely animalistic alias.Either way, Southee’s mighty New Zealand career has had plenty in common with that of a drummer, albeit one of a less frenetic variety. A good ball on a good length. From a good height, at a good pace. With a good amount of movement – predominantly away but, occasionally, back in as well. Maintain that beat for 774 wickets across 35,000 deliveries, three formats and 16 years. Thank you and goodnight.Related

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He’s had some glorious moments when he’s truly stolen the show, and some of the records he’s racked up along the way have long since gone platinum. Moreover, he’s been integral to the most sustained era of excellence in New Zealand’s cricketing history. And yet, Southee’s lack of a defining feature has been perhaps his most remarkable feature. When all is said and done, he is just as likely to be remembered for the space he left between his notes, for the room that his matchless rhythms granted for his team-mates to revel in the limelight.”I’ve had the privilege of playing pretty much all my Test matches with Timmy,” Tom Latham, New Zealand’s captain, said on the eve of his farewell match. “To see how he goes about things, day in day out, the longevity that he’s had as a seam bowler in New Zealand, to play the amount of Test matches that he has … we’ll certainly miss him, the dressing-room will miss him, but he is going to leave a legacy that I’m sure will go on for a long time.”Foremost among those who were elevated by his endurance, of course, was Trent Boult, the Broad to Southee’s Anderson, and New Zealand’s richest source of “look at me” displays throughout their combined haul of 541 wickets from 65 Tests. Never was this more telling than in March 2018, when Boult claimed four of the first five wickets, and six out of ten all told, as he and Southee combined to rout England for 58 at Eden Park.Try naming a better duo… if you have time for futile exercises•Hannah Peters/Getty ImagesAnd if that left-arm-inswing, right-arm-outswing alliance wasn’t enough of a challenge for opposition batters, there was Neil Wagner too (now there’s a heavy metal cricketer if ever there was one …) pounding the areas of the pitch that Southee’s full and probing methods had little reason to visit. Between that trio, and the freakish trajectories of Kyle Jamieson, now sadly hors de combat with a stress fracture, New Zealand’s seam attack was briefly the most complete in world cricket, and at precisely the right moment to land the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.Perhaps it’s doing Southee a disservice to consider him, first and foremost, as a cog in New Zealand’s over-achieving machine. But in so many ways, his absences from the narrative are the killer details of his career. They speak volumes for his drive to stay competitive in the first instance, but also of his acceptance – particularly in white-ball cricket – that there were moments in his career when other players were simply better placed to take on that starring role.Take his two-year absence from New Zealand’s T20I plans between 2015-17, for instance – precisely the same timeframe in which both Broad and Anderson were binned off from England’s white-ball plans, never to return. Not only did Southee regain his place for 88 subsequent T20Is, up to and including the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean just gone, he bows out with a record 164 wickets in the format, a tally that only Mustafizur Rahman among seamers looks likely to challenge in a hurry.Test regulars on the motorway, T20 stars on the fast lane•Getty ImagesAnd similarly, when he was limited to a squad role for both the 2019 and 2023 50-over World Cups, despite having been one of the stand-out performers in New Zealand’s glorious run to the 2015 final, it was a testament to the standards that he’d inspired in his peers – most particularly Matt Henry, for so long the team’s understudy, but a man who is now set to inherit his Test mantle too, having racked up 61 Test wickets at 21.93 since taking over as Southee’s regular new-ball partner at the start of 2023.”If you sit still, the game will pass you by,” Southee told ESPNcricinfo in October last year. “You’re always looking at ways to continue to improve, so you can continue fulfilling the dream of playing this game. For me, I obviously don’t have out-and-out pace, so you need to stay with the game and figure out ways you can still be effective in all parts of the world.”He fulfilled that ambition magnificently, with his accolades including a ten-wicket haul against England at Lord’s in 2013, and career-best figures of 7 for 64 in Bengaluru some ten months earlier. His white-ball honours include two T20I hat-tricks, as well as New Zealand’s best figures in each of the shorter formats – including, at Wellington in the 2015 World Cup, a stunning haul of 7 for 33 to rout England, surely the most storied solo of his career.And yet, it’s arguably only now, as Southee’s career winds down and his lacking of cutting edge is exposed by the indefinable lack of “snap” in his action that has limited him to 15 wickets at 61.66 since the start of 2024, that the true extent of his influence can be appreciated. After all, there cannot be many players who arrived at international level quite so fully formed as Southee did, at Napier in March 2008. Hence it’s been nigh on impossible to judge him against the standard narrative arc that govern such long-term performers (including, it should be said, Anderson and Broad, whose own Test careers had begun in earnest just one Test earlier in Wellington).

“You couldn’t find one a bit more sexy?” The Sexy Camel Tim Southee meets the other “Sexy” Camel… #cricket #timsouthee #blackcaps #sexycamel pic.twitter.com/EZ4yR5VfAN

— The ACC (@TheACCnz) December 12, 2024

He has racked up five hundreds in his last six List A innings to lead Vidarbha into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Shashank Kishore14-Jan-2025Karun Nair laughs at the prophecy of a casual quip from a podcast he was a part of in September 2024. Robin Uthappa, his former Karnataka team-mate, had asked what more Nair needed to do to get noticed.At the time, Nair had just returned from summer in England with Northamptonshire, scoring 487 runs in 11 innings, including a best of 202 not out. It hurt him that he wasn’t considered for BCCI’s season-opening Duleep Trophy.”Funnily enough I said I think I need to score a hundred in every single innings to kind of get noticed,” Nair laughs during a chat with ESPNcricinfo from Vadodara. He remembers that light-hearted quip as he sits on top of the run-scoring charts in the ongoing 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy.Related

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Nair has stacked up scores of 122*, 112, 111*, 163*, 44* and 112* in his last six innings. Prior to being dismissed for 112 against Uttar Pradesh, Nair had set a new List A record of scoring 542 runs without being dismissed, going past former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin. This glorious run has helped Vidarbha make the semi-finals, with Nair playing a key role as batter and captain.”I think I may have manifested something like this unknowingly in that chat with Robbie, and that’s coming into fruition,” Nair laughs. “At the time [of recording the podcast], I was hurting a bit. After scoring runs in England and scoring nearly 700 runs [690 at the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy] to take Vidarbha into the finals, I did feel I could’ve got a look-in for the Duleep Trophy.”Initially, right through the first half of the Ranji season I kept thinking about missed opportunities when I couldn’t convert a few of my starts. But coming into the Vijay Hazare Trophy, I had completely forgotten about it, but I’ve just kept playing and have kept getting hundreds.”Nair’s fall after being India’s second triple-centurion in Test cricket was quite steep. He not just slipped out of national contention but also fell out of favour with the selectors from his own state, Karnataka. After more than a year of not having a team, his comeback began at the DY Patil tournament in early 2023.Karun Nair has turned his career around after moving to Vidarbha•PTI A chat with former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla during the tournament helped him find a new team in Vidarbha. It helped that Nair had a rapport with Kuruvilla, who was India Under-19 selector when he was coming through the ranks.Nair joined Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 following a season in the minor counties for Burbage & ER Cricket Club in East Wiltshire, for whom he made two hundreds and a half-century in eight innings. It was a step down, but Nair simply wanted any game time he could.As he reflects on his runs and form he describes as “surreal and humbling”, Nair remembers the struggles of those dark days and the time when he yearned to simply get bat on ball after sitting at home for nearly seven months not knowing where his next opportunity would come from.”I think, quite honestly, it’s even amazing to myself also to look at the results that are coming about currently,” he says. “But I would say the only thing I’m focused on is cherishing each moment and being present in that particular game. I’m not thinking about the past or the future; I’m thinking about only that game and playing as though that is the most important innings of my career.”I don’t think in these six matches, it’s ever come across to my mind that I have so many runs so I can play however the way I want. Yes, obviously, I would be lying if I say I haven’t thought about the dark days, but I’ve managed to control those thoughts and kind of rein myself in and say the team needs something else for me and I need to stay there till the end and make sure that I cross the line.”As soon as there’s a stage where I know I’m confident that we are through, then that’s when I play a little more freely and attacking. So really, I would say it’s the process that I followed this year and the last probably is 12-16 months where I’ve been very thoughtful in each and every game that I’ve played. I’ve made sure that it is the most important moment in my career and made sure that I’ve taken that to every single innings that I’ve played.”Along the way, Nair has also found a new IPL home at the Delhi Capitals, a team he once captained all too briefly, after having gone unsold at the previous auction. The tough times, Nair says, is over. He likens it to seeing light at the end of a dark tunnel.Karun Nair has captained the Delhi franchise in the past in the IPL•BCCIInevitably, runs and records of this magnitude have brought with it plenty of attention. With India due to tour England later in the summer, Nair’s experience of two county seasons at Northants and runs at the Ranji Trophy could potentially keep him in the conversations.Nair chuckles at the prospects of a possible comeback, nearly seven years after he was left out following spending the entire summer in England being in the reserves.”I’m quite relaxed actually,” he says. “I wouldn’t be lying if I forgot about everything. But I don’t know, the way I feel about my game, in the mind, the way I go about things – it’s just different. I just feel different every single day I wake up.”I’m only trying to shift my focus on winning games for my team and performing along the way. Basically, I’m only thinking about that at the moment, which is kind of the right thing to do. Quite honestly, I don’t know how close I am [to being in contention for the national. team]. Like I said, again, I just want to take it one game at one time. But yeah, I don’t know.”What Nair does know is he’s rediscovered his penchant to score big, and score hundreds – “the only currency in cricket I heard growing up.” Now to try and top it off with a trophy winning season for Vidarbha.

Hosts bowling looks in need of a refresh after being blunted for 143 overs in India’s second innings

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Jul-20251:19

Harmison: ‘A little bit farcical towards the end’

Ben Duckett asked sarcastically how much of the last hour Ravindra Jadeja, 89 not out, and Washington Sundar, on 80, would need for their centuries. Zak Crawley, cutting right to the chase, called it “embarrassing”.It turns out all they needed was about 15 minutes. Ben Stokes, eventually, had his offer to shake hands on his first non-rain-affected draw accepted. And, though those 15 minutes made this formality much colder, neither Jadeja nor Washington cared. Likewise, the crowd, now predominantly Indian, who had stuck around for the cherry on top of this impressively composed rearguard from their heroes.Another time, England will have seen such joyous scenes from their opponents as a reflection of their superiority. It was on this ground 20 years ago that a great Australia team lauded it up on the away balcony after escaping nine down to keep the Ashes series at 1-1. “Look, the mighty Aussies are celebrating a draw with England – we’ve got them now…” Michael Vaughan had told his players then.Related

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India cannot win this series now, but Shubman Gill could offer a similar view of the sour attitude displayed by England in the dregs of day five. They fought hard and ended up rattling an opponent that had hitherto dominated this Test match. As understandably frustrated the hosts were at being kept on the field for – eventually – 143 overs, India may well view the frayed tempers, which exacerbate the tired bodies, as an extra advantage going into the final Test. Getting out of the series with a 2-2 scoreline would make this a successful tour.If England were irked by Jadeja’s milestone-hunting, they could have just dismissed him first ball. Jofra Archer got one to lift and take the left-hand batter’s edge, but Joe Root missed two attempts to claim it at first slip.Archer was flying, having removed Gill for 103, though even that took three attempts. Saturday’s drop by Liam Dawson at gully (with Gill on 46) was followed on Sunday by Ollie Pope (with Gill on 81) at cover.It is pretty obvious England’s anger at how the match concluded was not squarely on two players bagging deserved hundreds. Though they arrived on Sunday morning still with eight wickets to get after two wicketless sessions the day before, and just 137 of their 311 first-innings lead intact, confidence was high.Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar kept England waiting, and waiting, and waiting…•AFP/Getty ImagesThe rough outside the off stump of the left-hand batters – India with three to come when Gill and KL Rahul resumed – and the uncertain bounce, particularly for those bowling from the James Anderson End, filled them with hope. And yet, even with the two drops, they only created five chances in the final 80 overs, 63 of which came with the second new ball.For once, the Dukes balls played ball. Neither side had it changed over the course of the five days. That Crawley was warned by the umpires for throwing the ball short of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith to scuff a surface for some reverse swing showed the ball remained hard throughout.”It’s been a series so far of hard toil, in particular the bowling units from both sides,” Stokes said at the end, himself having been afflicted with calf, left hamstring and right bicep tendon issues in this match alone, even if they have been compounded by the 140 overs in his body since the start of the series.”You’ve really had to work really, really hard for your rewards. We’re not going to hide away from the fact that it’s been a very tough four games so far for the guys who have played, in particular the bowling unit.”

“You have discussions with all your bowlers around what we can look at doing differently. ‘What do you think is the most threatening? Can we look at doing this?’ We tried quite a few different plans, set a few different fields to make the Indian batters feel a bit uncomfortable”Ben Stokes on his conversations with Liam Dawson

Pitches like these, even if they have been tailored to England’s needs to an extent, are why they have assembled a battery of quicks who are either tall enough to hit the deck hard enough to extract what life there is, or fast enough to cause discomfort.Injuries have dwindled those resources, meaning rotation across the four Tests has been non-existent. Archer replacing Josh Tongue from the third Test onwards has been the only change to a pace attack running on fumes.Gus Atkinson would have likely come in for Chris Woakes in Manchester had he been deemed fit enough. Though he was unable to get into Surrey’s first team this week, he will come into contention for the fifth Test. Jamie Overton, who did play for Surrey against Yorkshire (albeit only bowling in the first innings, with 0 for 81 from 14 overs) will join him when the squad meets up in London.Mark Wood had initially earmarked the final match for a return from knee surgery, but has been held back. And though Stokes says he will give the current attack – including himself – as much time as possible to recover ahead of Thursday’s start at the Kia Oval, a refresh of the pack is overdue.3:12

‘Would they have walked off?’ – Gambhir on Stokes’ draw offer

Meanwhile, Dawson’s return to Test cricket put a new slant on England’s spin position. An eight-year hiatus brought just one wicket in the first innings but all the control you would expect from a 35-year-old left-arm spinner who has been the cream of the domestic crop.His economy rate of 2.02 across a mammoth 47 overs in India’s second innings was double-edged. Reliable but for no reward.On the one hand, his metronomic bustle was integral to how Stokes managed his tired quicks; able to shuffle through them to utilise the up-and-down on offer while Dawson had the Brian Statham End locked down.A switch of ends allowed Archer to prise out Gill, and the pair shared nine overs after lunch that brought little other than a few nicks for Dawson. Had Root held Jadeja, it could have been a more fruitful union.Dawson seemed particularly forthright with Stokes, the pair discussing tactics at great length on either side of the tea interval. They departed having analysed the rough, leading to Dawson operating around the wicket to the left-hand batters after the break with a 7-2 leg-side field. That was abandoned after two swiped Jadeja boundaries in five deliveries.2:15

Why was Liam Dawson ineffective?

“You have discussions with all your bowlers around what we can look at doing differently,” Stokes said of their animated conversation. “What do you think is the most threatening? Can we look at doing this differently?”We tried quite a few different plans, set a few different fields to make the Indian batters feel a bit uncomfortable.”Stokes does enjoy that back and forth with his bowlers. And the pair shared a nice moment when Dawson’s competitive edge meant he wanted to keep going at Jadeja and Washington in the hope of ending their century quests. Stokes offered a consolatory hug to let him know his work was done. There will be more to do this week.Could Dawson have done more here? Perhaps he should have varied his position on the crease and, say, gone wider to the left-hand batters to offer more of a pronounced challenge of either edges. Maybe more variations of pace?England do believe Dawson has been unlucky, eliciting 31 false shots in the second innings without reward. And yet, a solid but unspectacular return has you wondering how Shoaib Bashir might have gone here.Ben Stokes ponders his options as India frustrate England in the field•PA Images/GettyIndia would have probably knocked off the deficit sooner had the offspinner been playing. But the raw Bashir, with his unpredictability – and higher release point – might have sparked something.There is a reason England did not go back to Jack Leach when Bashir broke his finger at Lord’s. It is the same reason they plumped for Bashir at the start of the 2024 summer over the man who is forcing him to leave Somerset. In Dawson, they see the variety of a banker who is a talented allrounder. But here, they would have liked Bashir’s big-revs, big rip, big dip from a great height.Sunday, for all the ill-feeling, did at least vindicate the decisions the England management have made to grow and fine-tune their approach. But it is a vindication that, right now, will not nourish them all that much.As the team sipped beers in the home dressing room on Sunday evening, they would have toasted their hard work. Another cheers to Root ascending to second on the Test run charts. A further one to Stokes marrying a first five-wicket haul in eight years with a first century in two.But for all the history and glory achieved, they will want to forget about this day as quickly as possible.

The message from the two captains is clear: neither expected things to kick off as they did, nor do they intend to rein anyone in ahead of the final two Tests

Matt Roller14-Jul-2025

On a collision course: Ravindra Jadeja and Brydon Carse•Getty Images

It was the over that changed the mood of the series. For six minutes short of 13 days, relations between England’s and India’s players had appeared wholly amicable. But the sight of Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley pointing fingers at one another over a time-wasting spat prompted two days of stirring, sledging, swearing, send-offs, and simmering tensions.All of that culminated in a show of mutual respect after an epic Test match at Lord’s: No. 11 Mohammed Siraj, who was fined 15% of his match fee for his shoulder-bumping send-off of Ben Duckett on Sunday, sunk to his haunches after battling in vain for over an hour to give Ravindra Jadeja company, and Crawley was the first England player over to shake his hand.But expect hostilities to resume in Manchester, with both captains suggesting that the between the teams would only “add to the spectacle”. Gill may believe there is a mutual “admiration”, but the combination of a new-look India team and England’s cooling interest in the IPL means there are few genuine friendships between the two teams.Related

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Crawley’s outrageous delaying tactics initially sparked India into life, prompting Gill to suggest that he “grow some f*****g balls”. India’s fielders circled Crawley when he called the physio on.”When you’re watching your two opening batters go out there for an over, and you’re seeing 11 guys all come at [them], that’s going to bring out another side,” Ben Stokes said after England beat India by 22 runs.Siraj’s send-off to Duckett got him in trouble with Richie Richardson, the match referee, but Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy also celebrated their wickets with extra gusto after the Saturday-night flashpoint. England were unimpressed, and discussed their plans to get in India’s faces before they went out to bowl in the fourth innings.”We all came together as a group yesterday, and said, ‘we’re a bit too nice’,” Jofra Archer said after the match. “When we go to other places, some teams aren’t as nice to us as we are to them. I guess we just tried to shift it.” Archer set the tone on Monday, turning around and telling Rishabh Pant to “charge that” after responding to being launched down the ground by dislodging his off stump.Pant’s dismissal brought Washington Sundar to the crease, and it was his arrival that highlighted England’s aggression. Washington did the Sunday-night media round for India, and was unusually bullish. “We will definitely win the game tomorrow,” he told the BBC, adding, “It’s going to be amazing when we win the game and go 2-1 up in the series.”Nitish Kumar Reddy gives Zak Crawley a send-off•Getty ImagesIf Washington intended the tone to be tongue-in-cheek, it did not land, and word clearly reached the England camp. As soon as Washington walked in, Brendon McCullum signalled down from the balcony to ramp up the volume; after taking an athletic catch off his own bowling to dismiss Washington without scoring, Archer, flanked by Stokes, sent a few choice words in his direction.That brought in Reddy, whose reception from England’s close catchers was even more hostile. Reddy had given Crawley a pointed send-off when he dismissed him on Sunday – and for the second time in the match – and immediately got a volley back from him at leg slip. But it was Harry Brook, Reddy’s former Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mate, who was the loudest.Brook’s sledging centred on the fact that Reddy was “not at the IPL now”, and England attempted to lure him into playing an attacking shot. “So many runs, lads,” Duckett said. “Can’t just be blocking this end.” Another Brook line – “Jaddu’s got to score them all” – nearly came back to bite as the day wore on.Stokes found himself physically separating Brydon Carse and Jadeja – as though breaking up a fight on a night out – after a mid-pitch collision that both men blamed the other for. And even if the chatter died down in the afternoon as England’s fielders spread to the boundary, the hostility and aggression between the sides remained evident.Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley were involved in a heated exchange•Getty Images”In big series like this, there was always going to be a time and a moment where the two teams were going to clash,” Stokes said. “But I’m all for it. I don’t think it really stepped over the line. There’s 22 people out there playing for their country. It’s the highest honour that you can [reach] in our sport. So you can understand that sometimes the emotions and tension can get quite high.”But I don’t think there’s anyone in the Indian dressing room or anyone in the English dressing room that’s going to bed and going to cry themselves asleep… There was always going to be a moment in a series like this when it was going to implode. It wasn’t really boiling up to it; it just sort of happened. But look, it adds to the spectacle of England vs India, doesn’t it?”Gill may be softly spoken, but he has shown both in the IPL and now in Test cricket that he has a fiery side to him. In Gautam Gambhir, he is working alongside a coach who is never shy of getting involved in a confrontation – whether as a player or otherwise – and echoed Stokes’ comments that the needle will benefit the wider narrative.”It makes for an even more exciting Test series,” Gill said. “When you’re in the heat of the moment, obviously there are so many emotions involved… At the end of the day, both teams are very competitive, and you’re playing to win. You’re giving everything physically and mentally, so there are going to moments where there’s going to be a little bit of heat.”The underlying message was clear: neither captain expected things to kick off as they did, nor do they intend to rein anyone in ahead of the final two Tests. It already promises to be an explosive week in Manchester.

Club’s first List A title since 1994 comes a year on from the death of young spinner, Josh Baker

Vithushan Ehantharajah21-Sep-2025The waiting. The uncertainty. The fear. All of it made Worcestershire’s victory that much sweeter.Faced with a rank forecast above Trent Bridge, neither team knew if matters would be settled on the weekend, never mind Saturday. Worcestershire had restricted Hampshire to 237 for 7, then found out they’d be chasing a re-jigged 251 from 45 overs. That ended up being 188 from 27.The final pursuit began just 21 minutes before the 5:36pm cut-off for the minimum required 20-over chase. Such were the unknowns, even the ECB’s unofficial word on protocol (had the rain returned prior to the 5:15pm start) was refreshingly honest. How much play would spill into Sunday if a shorter second innings had been rubber-stamped the day before? They would broach that when it arrived, which was hopefully never.”At the halfway stage, I quite fancied the longer chase,” Jake Libby, Worcestershire’s captain, said afterwards, and understandably so, having entered this final with 50 overs in mind. Some in the Worcestershire dressing-room were anxious during the hours of hold-up. Ethan Brookes, who all but won the match with 57 off 34, spent most of it asleep.Both Libby and Brookes succumbed to Hampshire’s own unknown. Released from an England squad, having travelled overnight from Ireland, Scotland international Scott Currie dropped into Nottingham for his second Metro Bank appearance this season to take a maiden List A five-wicket haul.Libby’s nick through to Ben Brown swung the game back Hampshire’s way. Brookes’ top-edge, if not the end, was seemingly the start of it, as the first of three to fall to Currie in the innings’ penultimate over.Could Brookes have come in earlier? His penchant for a boundary – he has struck one every 5.25 balls this campaign – looked a necessity. As Libby and Kashif Ali were taking time to erect a platform with their less-than-a-run-a-ball stand of 62, you wondered where the meaningful strikes would come from. Brookes’ arrival, with 93 required from 61 balls, felt overdue.Matthew Waite and Henry Cullen produced the winning flourish for Worcestershire•Getty ImagesHis five fours and four sixes ensured it was just in the nick of time. Moreover, his calculations were spot on. Currie’s hugging of the wide line from the Radcliffe Road End made it “pretty much impossible” for Brookes to access his natural hitting arc to the shorter leg side. So, Brookes remained patient, as much for other bowlers to target as the deliveries they would send his way.”Abbott and Fuller, I think it was?” Brookes asked, mind still mush from the battle. “Uh, I can’t remember, this is all a bit of a blur… but I knew that they were going to go off-pace, because that’s what the wicket suited.” Brookes ensured the last overs of Abbott (25th) and Fuller (22nd) were taken for 15 and 16, respectively.As Libby recalled: “Ethan came out to me and, I remember, the sentence he said to me was: ‘I’m gonna try and do something special here’.” Such was Brookes’ flow state, he was able to buy back a few chances for Worcestershire to use when he had left. He also recouped time to lament his dismissal without missing the final throes, including Matthew Waite’s first-ball six over wide long on. The allrounder eventually finished unbeaten with 16 off five.”I literally took my emotion out in the dressing-room and then was like, right, there’s a game to watch still here,” Brookes said. “We know what we can do at the back end. He (Waite) has played a special knock as well there. People should not forget that.”Don’t worry, they won’t. Not the moment of glory, which took an age for the television umpire to confirm, not that anyone by this point was in a rush. Aside from Henry Cullen, who had gone from fearing his pull shot off Brad Wheal had been caught at backward square leg, to being adamant he had found the winning strike, based on Abbott’s subdued reaction having butted the boundary sponge.Libby did not celebrate to begin with. Stoic throughout this campaign, Worcestershire’s 50-over skipper ceded that his exact thoughts at the time remain hazy. The product, perhaps, of “a few elbows to the head” in the ensuing limbs.Josh Baker died in May last year at the age of 20•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesNot since 1994 have Worcestershire experienced List A glory, back when it was a 60-over competition. Their previous silverware, 2018’s Vitality Blast, was achieved with an entirely different XI. The only potential survivor, Brett D’Oliveira, rolled his ankle on Thursday in the dregs of a County Championship match against Durham that confirmed the club’s relegation back to Division Two.D’Oliveira had been Worcestershire’s leading run-scorer in the Metro Bank. He is also a totem of an organisation admired across the country for its family feel. A compliment, even as the English game careers towards a less emotive state.Brett and his lineage – from his trailblazing grandfather Basil, to his much-loved father, Damian, whose loss in 2014 was an emotional body blow – embody the soul of New Road. As such, there was no better person to be holding Josh Baker’s shirt as the trophy was lifted than Brett, having laid down his crutches.Baker’s death in May of last year at the age of 20 rocked the club. Hampshire captain Nick Gubbins highlighted how much of that tragedy reverberated beyond New Road. “Some things are bigger than cricket,” Gubbins said. “If there’s one team I would be happy to lose to, or as happy as you can be, it would be Worcestershire.”The logo of the JB33 foundation, set up in Baker’s honour by his parents, Lisa and Paul, adorns Worcestershire’s playing shirts. They carry him forward on both sides of their chest. On Saturday night, a squad, a supporter base and a family used the stage of a final to honour him.”This means a lot to a lot of people at the club,” Libby said. “Players, coaches, supporters, families, friends… and of course, Josh Baker, who we’ve worn proudly on the front of our shirts this season. And he is still very much in our thoughts.”Ironically, it was Libby who kept his teammates waiting at the end, as they lined up behind the trophy, waiting for their leader to finish a long post-match debrief on Sky. There was more waiting as the players queued to embrace Baker’s parents as their own, pushed to the front of the stand teeming with Worcestershire support.”It was very difficult,” said Brookes. “[It’s] heartbreaking what’s happened and… to share a really special memory with his parents in honour of Josh. It’s… yeah, it will definitely be a highlight of my career.”Related

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If there was one regret, it was that Worcestershire’s club journalist, John Curtis, was not there to witness the scenes. Curtis, who passed in April, was a beloved figure in the New Road press box, and every other he walked into. And these were not so much the days that made his job worthwhile – he truly loved them all – but what he wished for a team and group of players he never tired of championing. An avid chronicler of the county, this latest entry into their history books will carry his honour, too.Even without this victory, Worcestershire were the standout 50-over side of the 2025 season. Consistency of selection despite the Hundred – only Adam Hose graced that tournament for Trent Rockets before his horrific leg injury – saw them lose just once. For all the feeling associated with this success, it is no less than their cricket has deserved.It is also important to state that Saturday was third on Hampshire’s list of priorities, even if this is now a second defeat at this stage in the last three seasons, in a competition that has proved an effective schooling for their prodigious young talents. Having also lost in the Vitality Blast final last weekend, they now head into the final round of the County Championship fighting for their own Division One survival.Therein lies modern county cricket in a nutshell. Constantly vying with itself for relevance – be it status or simply a reason to be. Even a club of Hampshire’s stature, and all their freshly enhanced financial might, are not immune from that struggle.But on Saturday, in a competition that time is starting to forget, amid great uncertainty around the future relevance of the English county game, Worcestershire and all whom they hold dear were able to rise above it all for their own, deserved moment.

He has played just 12 Tests for South Africa in all these years, but away from the limelight, Simon Harmer has put together a truly remarkable body of work

Sampath Bandarupalli23-Oct-20254 – Harmer is only the fourth South Africa player to claim 1000 wickets in first-class cricket. Charlie Llewellyn (1013), Mike Procter (1417) and Allan Donald (1216) were the ones to get there before him.2 – Only two players who made their first-class debuts in the 21st century have taken 1000 wickets in the format. Harmer, whose first-class debut was in November 2009, and James Anderson, who had made his debut in May 2002. His milestone 1000th wicket came in July 2021. Anderson was also the last of the 216 bowlers to reach 1000 first-class wickets before Harmer.Related

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Harmer is the only bowler in the world with over 900 wickets since his first-class debut, with Malinda Pushpakumara’s 874 being the next best.514 – Wickets for Harmer in first-class cricket in England. Of those, 513 have come for Essex, all since 2017, and one for South Africa in a Test in 2022. Harmer is the only bowler with 500-plus first-class wickets in England since 2017, with Kyle Abbott’s 442 being the next highest.Harmer’s 35 five-fors and ten ten-wicket match hauls are also the most by any bowler in England in this period.Not to forget, Harmer has 453 wickets at home in South Africa, the second-highest since his first-class debut, behind only Shaun von Berg (522).Simon Harmer is an Essex legend, with 513 wickets for them in first-class cricket•Getty Images58 – Five-wicket hauls for Harmer in first-class cricket. Only Pushpakumara (80) and Gayan Sirisoma (61) have more five-fors than Harmer since his first-class debut in November 2009. R Ashwin (51) is the only other bowler with 50-plus five-fors in this period.Harmer’s effort in the Rawalpindi Test was his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket outside of England and South Africa, where he has 35 and 22 respectively. Harmer, however, has played only 11 first-class matches outside those two countries.331 – Wickets for Harmer in Chelmsford, the home ground of his county team, Essex. Only one bowler has taken more first-class wickets at a ground in the last 20 years – 374 by Tim Murtagh at Lord’s.Harmer has 27 five-wicket hauls across the 58 matches he played in Chelmsford, the most by a bowler at a venue in the last 20 years. Harmer has taken ten-plus wickets in a game on ten occasions at the venue, which is also the most.20 – Right-arm offspinners with 1000-plus wickets in first-class cricket before Harmer. Robert Croft was the last offspinner to reach 1000 wickets, having got there in 2007. (Twenty other players with 1000 FC wickets had multiple bowling styles throughout their careers, with right-arm off-break being one of them)55,618 – Balls that Harmer has bowled in his first-class career so far. Only one other player has bowled over 50,000 balls in the format since his debut – Nathan Lyon (55,790).